Turbine wheel



Psa-naa Feb. s, i946 j orales TURBINE WHEEL Adolph L. BergeigDaytony,Ohio Application September 22,1944, Serial No. 555,385

, 2 claims (cl. ca -41) (Granted under the act of March` 3. 1883, asamended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) l The invention described hereinmay be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmentalpurposes, without the payment to me of any royalty `thereon.l

I'his invention relates to turbine wheels and more particularly toturbine wheels adapted to I be operated by the exhaust gases from aninternal combustion engine for the .purpose of driving a supercharger orother auxiliary equipment.

Turbine wheels which yare driven by hot exhaust gases are subject tohigh degrees of heat and consequent rapid deterioration. Accordingly, itis desirable to provide some cooling means to maintain the temperatureof such' wheels below that of the 'driving gases. It is, therefore, anobject of my invention to provide a turbine wheel structure havingprovision for maintenance of flow of a cooling medium therethrough andit is a further object oi' my invention to construct a cooling means fora turbine' wheel so ythat a flow of cool air or other gaseous medium ismaintained through the interior thereof during operation without thenecessity of providing an auxiliary pumping device.

To obtain the above objects, I provide a turbine wheel having asubstantially hollow'` interior wherein is supported a bathe platespaced from the walls of the interior both laterally and peripherally.There is further provided ingress and egress means for a cooling mediumon opposite sides oi the baille platel and comprising ports so arrangedthat the egress port area is disposed at a greater radial distance fromthe axis of the turbine wheel than the ingress port area, so thatdiilerential centrifugal forces are thus obtained on the quantities ofcooling medium disposed on opposite sides of the baille plate,.whereby acontinuous ilow of cooling medium around the baille plate is maintainedin the interior of the turbine wheel.

For a more complete understanding of my invention, reference may be hadto the appended drawing showing a turbine wheel comprising a body madeof generally plate-shaped walls I and 2 and having a series of turbineblades I welded peripherally about the edges of the walls I and 2 bymeans of welded seams 5, and thereby inclosing a baille plate 6supported a its center by being welded at 'I to a hub 8 formedintegrally at the 6 and a now diverting cone I4 is provided on member Ihaving an axis co-axial with bores Il and I2. A plurality of egressports I i 'are provided in wall 2 and disposed pe'ipheraily about thehub A tubular shaft I8 is secured as by` welding or the like at Il tothe hub 8 with the interior of the shaft communicating with the ingressbore I0 and the turbine wheel is thus supported for rotationf on thetubular shaft I 8.

In operation, a source of gaseous cooling medium such as air isconnected through tubular shaft I8 to the interior of the turbine wheelvia bores I0 and I2 where it .fills the space on one side of the bailleplate 6. When the turbine wheel is rotating, frictional drag on thegaseous cooling means causes rotation thereof and the ensuingcentrifugal force compels iiow of the gas radially outward and aroundthe periphery of baille plate 6 and thenceradially downward and throughthe egress ports I B outwardly of the interior ofthe turbine wheel atthe other side of the balde plate. In view of the location of the areasof the egress ports I 6 at a further radial distance from the axis ofthe turbine wheel than any portion of the cross sectional area of thebore I0, there will be a greater total centrifugal force acting on anyradial column of transverse unit area of the cooling medium on theingress side 0i' baille plate C than on the egress side thereof, wherebya continuous ilow`of cooling medium, as indicated by the arrows, will bemaintained while the turbine wheel is rotating, without the necessity ofproviding auxiliary pumping means of any sort for flow maintenance.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a turbine wheel having a wheel body coin-- prised of a pair ofwalls forming a hollow interior therebetween, a baille plate disposedaxially of said whee1 body and supported within said interior andlaterally and peripherally spaced from said walls, an ingress channelfor a cooling medium comprising an open ended tubular shaft disposedaxially of said wheel body, one o! said center of the wall 2. The bailleplate '6 iS spaced 50 walls having an axial bore /and beingconcentrilaterally and peripherally from the faces of walls I and 2which form the interior of the turbine wheel', as shown. Hub member 8has an axial ingress bore Il therethrough in alignment with a bore I!provided centrally aboutthe baie plate 5 cally secured to said tubularshaft at the open end thereof, said baille plate having an axial boretherein in communication with the interior of said tubular shaft throughthe axial bore in said wall whereby said cooling medium has access to o2 .y 'uw menor o: ma wheel body et one we o: ma

l baille plate, an egress means for said cooling medium comprising asitesideo: said `body 1 medium is compelled by forces to now incontiguity with said walls from through said wallfaoing the oppoboresdisposed baille plate and located radially plurality of radiallyarranged' beyond said tubular shaft and disposed parallel to the axisthereof and having direct communication with the exterior of said tiesof cooling medium retained inA saidwheel on opposite of said bailleplate having unequal centrifugal forces acting thereon when said turbinewheel is rotating. whereby said cooling said unequal centrifugal wall,the quanti-A e of the bore in said baille plate for diverting axial lflow of s aid cooling medium radially outward of said baille plate saidflow diverting cone Iheilig formed on the other of said pair of wallsand arranged to protrude into the bore of said baille plate and beingconcentrically spaced therein.

ADOLPH L. BERGER.

forth in claim'l,v Y

